Page 28 of Manhattan Bossholes

“Why are you so quiet?” Vincent finally asked. “Are you okay?”

I glanced over at him and couldn’t help being pleased to see actual concern in his expression.

“Yeah, just a little overwhelmed, I guess. And maybe envious, too,” I added, the words slipping out before I had a chance to really think them through.

“Seriously?” He frowned at me. “Why?”

“You and your dad,” I explained, pushing past the shyness I felt at the idea of being this open with him. After all, I was the one who had brought it up. It wouldn’t do any harm to answer his question. “You have such a great relationship. You’re like…friends. He obviously loves you, but he also likes you.” I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant even though I was feeling anything but as I said, “I’ve never experienced that. My dad died when I was a baby, and Prentiss is a gigantic asshole, so…I don’t know, I guess it was a nice change of pace for me to experience such healthy dad energy.”

“It wasn’t always like that between us,” he admitted, surprising me with his willingness to be open in turn. “We had a bunch of bumpy years. My parents got divorced when I was pretty little, so I grew up bouncing back and forth between New York and Miami. Which was fine when it was just Dad, but I’ve had three stepmoms over the years, and they weren’t always interested in having me around. That’s actually how Dee’s Lost Boys started.”

“What is the story there?” I asked. I’d only gotten bits and pieces of the story from Paul over the years.

“Freshman year, the five of us became friends pretty fast. Paul was my roommate, and I met the other three guys—Aiden, Dominic, and Trent—because we were in the same brand management class and got assigned a big project together. When winter break rolled around, all of us planned to go home, but there was a big strike that basically shut down the airports. You wouldn’t think it would be a problem for any of us because we all had family within driving distance, but I couldn’t go to Dad’s because he’d just married wife number three, and he’d loaned his place to a friend to use for the holidays while they went on their honeymoon. I was supposed to fly down to Mom’s, but there was no way to get to Miami. Meanwhile, Aiden’s parents were going through a divorce, so heading home to New Jersey didn’t sound like a good idea to him, either.”

“Wow,” I said, eyes wide. “Yeah, that sounds awkward.”

“Aiden and I figured we’d stay in the dorms and have a sad little Christmas on our own, but as soon as he heard about it, Trent loaded us up in his car and drove us both to Long Island to stay with his grandmother. Didn’t even let her know until we were already on the road. I half thought we’d show up and she’d kick us right out again for being rude enough to drop in out of the blue, but Nana Dee just bundled us inside where she had cocoa waiting, and beds made up for us, and presents with our names on them under the tree that she’d rushed out to buy as soon as Trent called. You’d think she’d been planning to host us for weeks. By the time we left, she’d basically adopted us. Called us her Lost Boys—and Paul and Dominic were added to the group when we all came back for spring break. She’s family, in every way that matters.”

He was wearing a smile I’d never seen on him before—one that was soft and warm. Loving. It suited him better than I would have thought.

I tried to hide my shock. That he’d share anything with me was surprising enough, but that he’d be this open, reveal this much heart was mind-blowing. Hell, who even knew that he had this much heart? Who was this stranger sitting beside me?

“I’m pretty sure she’d adore you,” he added, shocking me even further.

Part of me wanted to snap back something sarcastic, but I was so flattered that no quips came to mind. It was obvious how much Nana Dee meant to him, so for him to say she’d like me…that was a pretty amazing compliment. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely. You’re very charming. And yes, funny occasionally,” he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and cracked a smile. “And you one hundred percent do not take my bullshit.”

I laughed. “Truth bomb.”

We both went silent while I tried to square this new version of Vincent with the one I’d gotten to know over the past weeks.

“And you’re definitely beautiful,” Vincent added in a quiet voice. “There’s no question about that.”

I sucked in a breath. He didn’t have to say that. My heartbeat picked up speed as he pressed on the accelerator to push the sportscar faster.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “That’s kind of you to say.”

We arrived at my building faster than I would’ve liked. Despite everything, I found that I wanted to keep experiencing this side of Vincent. The one that opened up to me and called me beautiful.

I knew it wouldn’t last. Come Monday, he’d be back to ordering me around.

He pulled up in front of my building, and I grabbed the car door handle. “Thank you for a shockingly nice night.”

“Hold on, I’m walking you to the door,” he said gruffly, already half out of the car.

“But…this is a loading zone. You can’t park here,” I protested.

Vincent stared at me, frowning. “Do you really think someone is going to tow a McLaren P1?”

And there was the Vincent I was used to.

“Well, do what you want—but I’m not responsible if it happens. I was already part of one car incident with you; I’m not taking the blame if something goes wrong with this thing.” I gestured to the bright blue car.

Vincent was standing on the sidewalk waiting for me, looking way hotter than was necessary. I’d managed to not gawk at him the whole night by focusing on Richard, but now I couldn’t help it.

In any other life, we’d end what was a wonderful evening with flirty pleasantries, and then I’d no doubt ask if he wanted to come up to my place. I considered it for a split second. Darcy was out, possibly for the night, which meant I had the apartment to myself. I had, admittedly, had some racy thoughts about hate-fucking him in the past. But now, I started to wonder what it would be like to have the fucking without the hating part. Did I really want to find out?